Victory at the premier South American junior tournament, the Group A Banana Bowl, further cemented the 2000 Australian Open Champion Andy Roddick’s position at no. 1 in the ITF Boys’ Singles World Rankings. Speaking to the USTA from Brazil, prior to collecting his second Group A title of 2000 following victory over the 1999 Australian Open champion Joachim Johansson, Roddick said “It feels good to be number one – it was the first of my goals when I got together with my coach, Tarik Benhabiles, back in September”. Roddick is the first American since Brian Dunn in 1992 to hold the No. 1 junior singles ranking and requires just one further Group A title to collect 200 valuable bonus points towards the world champion’s crown – a player must win three major titles to qualify for these. Johansson, Todor Enev and Nicolas Mahut are likely to provide Roddick with his strongest challenges this year, but Maximillian Abel, Michael Lammer and young Mario Ancic should also be watched, as must Tommy Robredo who has handed Roddick one of only two singles losses in 2000. With Lina Krasnoroutskaia still occupying top spot in the girls’ singles, there is much jockeying for position in the top ten. Highest mover of the week is Argentina’s exciting Maria Emilia Salerni who leapfrogs over Aniko Kapros following her win in Brazil and is now challenging the 1999 world doubles champion, Daniela Bedanova, for second spot outright.